'Jeopardy!' contestant dies of cancer before show airs

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who competed on "Jeopardy!" while battling terminal colon cancer has died the week before her episode was set to air but prize money has gone to cancer research as she wished.

"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek says in a statement that Cindy Stowell died Monday.

The quiz show says on its website that the Austin, Texas, woman was invited to an audition for the show in August. Before the audition, Stowell reached out to a producer to ask how long it might be before she taped her episode because she didn't have long to live. She said she would like to donate any winnings from the show to cancer research.

Stowell passed the audition and was booked for the earliest possible taping Aug. 31.